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Supreme Court gives EPA another boost

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For the second time in less than a week, the Supreme Court has enhanced the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate air-polluting emissions.

The court Monday rejected a challenge by some 50 utilities and eight states against EPA limits on nitrogen oxide. The chemical is produced by coal-burning power plants and is a source of smog.

The problem is especially serious in Midwest states where power plants let their emissions drift into pollution-troubled Northeastern states.

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The court's denial of a hearing of the utilities' appeal was made without comment.

The EPA in 1998 labeled 22 states and the District of Columbia as sources of interstate pollution and ordered them to cut back sharply on the amount of nitrogen oxide starting in 2003 for some plants.

A U.S. appeals court last year upheld the rule. It said the EPA was proper when it considered the cost of air pollution controls in determining which states should reduce their emissions and the amount by which each state must reduce its emissions.

The court told the EPA to reconsider the plan for three states -- Wisconsin, Missouri and Georgia.

But it upheld the rule for the District of Columbia and the other states -- Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

In their appeal to the Supreme Court the utilities, the industry groups and the states argued that the EPA should not consider the cost effectiveness of available pollution controls in identifying the emissions.

They also questioned the part of the appeals court ruling that held the EPA's authority was sufficiently defined under the clean air law.

The Justice Department, on behalf of the EPA, said the appeals should be rejected. Environmental groups, nine Eastern states and the Canadian province of Ontario urged the Supreme Court to deny the appeal.

Last week, in a case the court heard earlier in its term, the justices ruled that Congress had properly delegated authority to the EPA to set limits for ozone and particulate matter.

The court said the EPA could not consider the cost of compliance in setting its standards to protect public health. But it also ordered the EPA to recast its terms and timetable for compliance.

CNN Senior Washington Correspondent Charles Bierbauer and Reuters contributed to this report.

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